Prettier Than Hoarding

Having a baby has forever changed my life. Anyone who’s had a child will tell you that. I am constantly trying to hold on to every precious memory we make through photos, videos, holding on to sentimental things from his busy little life, (borderline hoarding) and writing in his baby book as much as I can. I’ve gathered everything I need to make his first year scrapbook, (haven’t gotten to making it yet, because I’m too busy taking pictures and hanging out with baby Bonjour) I’ve made numerous photo books on shutterfly, chronicling his life every three months, some might call me crazy, but I just don’t want to miss a darn thing!

One of my favorite projects up to this point hangs in his nursery…which is soon to be changed to a toddler room (sigh)…and it’s something I will do for my future children to hang on to, and always have to recall those first beautiful moments when they entered the world!

Shadow boxes can be used for a variety of things. Awards, photos, memorabilia, etc. They have space to put important things and pictures, and what is more important than the moment you were born?

I bought this shadow box on sale at Michael’s, lined it with leftover fabric from nursery projects, and filled it with important things from our hospital stay.

In the box are his precious baby footprints, our hospital bands, his first onesie and hat the hospital provided, his first picture, our first picture, his birth announcement, and an L for Lincoln.

I didn’t have room for his tiny little baby hats that my sister and the hospital made for us, so they sit on top for now. I just love that this has so many wonderful memories in one place.

To keep everything in place, I just used tiny white pins. The backing was thick enough to hold everything well with just pins. If you want it to be more secure, you could add glue dots or hot glue.

Before pinning anything, I laid everything out to see how I’d like the final product to look. It took a few different layouts before I decided on this. You’ll have to put it in the arrangement that is right for whatever trinkets you add to your boxes! The best part is that they are completely interchangeable. You can add to it, rearrange it, take things out, whenever you want! (if you use pins!)

His little toes, oh my goodness, I smooched and tickled them so much those first few months. I wanted to be sure I put them in this box, because they are just so cute! I put one of the copies the hospital gave us on to two different cardstock pieces to create a frame. Then, I added foam board to the back of this to give it some depth in the box.

I did the same thing for the L. I found a font I liked, enlarged and printed it, and backed it with a teal cardstock as well as the foam board again. I wanted things to pop off the fabric, and I think I accomplished it!

I am so happy with the overall finished product, and like I said before, will definitely be doing this for our future children. This is something I can display for years to come, and when they are ready, I’ll pass it along to them.

This is easy project is something you can accomplish in just an hour or so! Gathering the things you want and finding the fabric took longer than putting it all together! Happy memory keeping!